DTM - Round 4 - Pepper and Preining triumph in dramatic fashion

Lamborghini's Jordan Pepper secured his maiden DTM win in race one, before Porsche-ace Thomas Preining claimed a tense race two victory, as multiple incidents, pit-stops and red flags shook up the standings, with just eight points separating the top five ahead of a visit to the Nürburgring.

QUALIFYING 1

Jordan Pepper in the TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 took pole position for race one on the streets of Nuremberg setting a 48.467, just ahead of Nicki Thiim in the Abt Sportsline Lamborghini with a 48.566. A successful performance from Nicolas Baert and Gilles Magnus in the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo’s saw them line up fifth and tenth.

RACE 1

Race one of the DTM weekend at Norisring began with a clean start as polesitter Jordan Pepper led the field ahead of Thierry Vermeulen and Preining in their Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 and Manthey EMA Porsche 992 GT3 R, while early drama unfolded when Nicki Thiim was spun by Maro Engel at the hairpin, followed by an unfortunate puncture for Ben Green in his Ferrari that forced an early pit stop and a return to the pits shortly after, resulting in an early retirement.

As the race progressed, Maximilian Paul and Marco Wittmann were among the first drivers to make their scheduled stops, followed by Ricardo Feller in his Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. A major incident occurred when Luca Engstler in his Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini was tagged by Nicolas Baert in his Aston Martin, sending him into the wall with heavy damage, and ending his race. Pepper eventually pitted from the lead with just over seventeen minutes remaining, and was able to maintain his advantage he had built after the cycle of stops.

Later on in the race, Baert slowed down with front-end damage, while Ben Dörr in his Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo managed to pass Marco Wittmann in his Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo for seventeenth position, while Jordan Pepper remained unchallenged at the front, crossing the line to claim victory in race one, and his debut victory in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

QUALIFYING 2

Thierry Vermeulen in his Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 took pole position for race two setting a 48.666, nearly a tenth ahead of Arjun Maini in his HRT Ford Performance Ford Mustang GT3. Ben Dörr and Gilles Magnus went well in qualifying too, and placed tenth and thirteenth position respectively.

RACE 2

Race two began with a strong launch from Thierry Vermeulen while Jack Aitken held off Arjun Maini for second position. Chaos erupted at turn one as Marco Wittmann, Mirko Bortolotti and Nicki Thiim collided while running four-wide, triggering a safety car. Morris Schuring also suffered some damage in his Manthey Junior Team Porsche 992 GT3 R and pitted, rejoining during the delayed restart. Moments later, the race was red-flagged before resuming with Vermeulen leading from Aitken, Thomas Preining and Maini.

Early battles saw Ricardo Feller unsuccessfully attempt to pass Gilles Magnus, which saw Tom Kalender going wide while trying to overtake Fabio Scherer, allowing René Rast through. The first pit stops began with Baert, followed by Lucas Auer, Rast and Timo Glock, with Rast losing time during the stop due to a slow change of the rear-right tyre. Engel, Paul, Feller and Pepper soon followed, but the leading group of Vermeulen, Aitken, Preining and Maini stayed out, just before Scherer lost a wheel at turn four, narrowly avoiding being struck as it rolled across the track, bringing out a full course yellow. Kalender retired after being hit during the caution period.

Vermeulen pitted from the lead, handing Aitken the top spot as the pit window was extended. Aitken and Preining stopped next, with both of them rejoining just ahead of Vermeulen on cold tyres, before Maini and Ayhancan Güven briefly cycled through to the front. Penalties were handed to Feller and Ben Dörr for speeding under full course yellow, with Dörr receiving another penalty for spinning his wheels during the pitstop, and Luca Engstler later picked up a puncture after contact with Feller, and retired from the race.

With seventeen minutes remaining, Preining launched an attack for the lead of the race, but Aitken performed an incredible switchback to keep in front, which allowed Vermeulen to close in as well. A second round of pit stops began with Engel, Rast, Baert and Dörr, followed by Güven, Pepper, Jules Gounon, Schuring, Vermeulen, Preining, and finally Aitken. Preining emerged from the pits ahead, but ran wide at turn one, briefly conceding the lead to Aitken, before he reclaimed the lead just a couple of corners later.

Thomas Preining held firm to take victory in race two, finishing ahead of Aitken and Vermeulen. Engel, Maini, Ben Green, Rast, Auer, Pepper and Gounon completed the top ten, while the race saw several early retirements including Glock, Engstler, Magnus, Kalender, Paul, Scherer, Wittmann, Thiim and Bortolotti.

CHAMPIONSHIP IMPLICATIONS

Lucas Auer continues to lead the championship with 109 points, just seven points ahead of his fellow countryman Thomas Preining and the Lamborghini driver of Jordan Pepper, who both sit on 102 points. Jack Aitken and Maro Engel share fourth and fifth with 101 points, while René Rast is sixth with 90 points.

ONTO NURBURGRING

The sixth round of the 2025 season heads to the Nürburgring on the 9th - 10th August, with the championship fight building even stronger after every race.

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